(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to barium titanate series semiconductive ceramics having a positive temperature coefficient of electric resistance (hereinafter, ceramics having a positive temperature coefficient of electric resistance are referred to as PTC ceramics), which can be produced from inexpensive industrial raw materials, are low in the variance of electric resistance, have a low water absorption and hence are low in the change of electric properties due to the lapse of time.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
It has hitherto been known that barium titanate series semiconductive PTC ceramics can be obtained by sintering a barium titanate series compound together with a very small amount of an oxide of rare earth elements, such as lanthanum (La), cerium (Ce), samarium (Sm) and the like, an oxide of trivalent or pentavalent materials, such as bismuth (Bi), antimony (Sb), niobium (Nb) and the like, or an oxide, such as Ag.sub.2 O, SiO.sub.2, B.sub.2 O.sub.3, Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 or the like.
However, the use of inexpensive industrial raw materials containing an impurity element, such as Li, Na, K or the like, which hinders the conversion of barium titanate series ceramic composition into semiconductor, in the production of these barium titanate series semiconductive ceramics has the following drawbacks. That is, barium titanate series semiconductive ceramics cannot be produced stably due to the influence of the impurity, the production of barium titanate series semiconductive ceramics having a uniform electric resisrance is difficult due to the difference of properties of barium carbonate and titanium dioxide used as main raw materials in different lots, and the resulting semiconductive ceramics have a high water absorption and hence are noticeable in the change of properties due to the lapse of time. Particularly, the use of inexpensive industrial raw materials containing the above described impurity elements is not suitable for the production of a large amount of PTC ceramics having a large heat release value, which are known as a honeycomb structural heater (U.S. Pat. No. 3,927,300).